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Indus Valley
Indus Valley: 3500-1500 BCE
• Outside contact more limited
• Kyber Pass connection to outside via trade
• Harrappa, Mohenjo-Daro – Largest Cities (40K –
100K)
Timeline
Ancient Indus Chronology
Period
PhaseYrs. (B.C.E.)
5 Late Harappan (Cemetery H)?1700-1300
4Harappan/Late Harappan Transitional
1900-?1700
3C Harappan Phasec. 2200-1900
3B Harappan Phasec. 2450-2200
3A Harappan Phasec.2600-2450
2 Early Harappan/Kot Diji Phasec. 2800-2600
1A/B Early Harappan/Ravi Phasec. 3300-2800
Indus Valley
Mohenjo-daro : aerial view
Mohenjo-daro
view of the “Citadel”
The “Great Bath”
another view of the “Great Bath”
Cities: Mohenjo Daro and Harappa
• The cities are well known for their impressive, organized and regular layout.
• They have well laid our plumbing and drainage system, including indoor toilets.
• Population of between 100-200k each
• Over one hundred other towns and villages also existed in this region.
view of a small, side street
looks like a small tower, but actually it is a neighborhood well
A bathroom on a private residence
A public well in Harappa, or perhaps an ancient Laundromat...
A large drain or sewer
Himalayan Mountains• Nanga Parbat and
numerous other glacier draped mountains of the Himalaya, Karakorum and Hindu Kush provide a continuous source of water for the Indus and its tributaries.
• These mountain ranges also provided important timber, animal products, and minerals, gold, silver, tin and semiprecious stones that were traded throughout the Indus Valley.
Characteristics
• Literate society (writings on bricks and seals)• Master-planned cities as focal point• Water system• Strong central government• Polytheistic• Written language• Pottery, cotton, cloth • Standard weights and measurements• Grain storage
Cities• Artifacts and clues discovered at Mohenjo-Daro have allowed
archaeologists to reconstruct this civilization. • The similarities in plan and construction between Mohenjo-
Daro and Harappa indicate that they were part of a unified government with extreme organization. – Both cities were constructed of the same type and shape of bricks. – The two cities may have existed simultaneously and their sizes suggest
that they served as capitals of their provinces. – In contrast to other civilizations, burials found from these cities are not
magnificent; they are more simplistic and contain few material goods. – This evidence suggests that this civilization did not have social classes. – Remains of palaces or temples in the cities have not been found.– No hard evidence exists indicating military activity; it is likely that the
Harappans were a peaceful civilization. – The cities did contain fortifications and the people used copper and
bronze knives, spears, and arrowheads.
Language
• The Harappan people were literate and used the Dravidian language.
• The Indus (or Harappan) people used a pictographic script. Some 3500 specimens of this script survive in stamp seals carved in stone, in moulded terracotta and faience amulets, in fragments of pottery, and in a few other categories of inscribed objects.
• In addition to the pictographic signs, the seals and amulets often contain iconographic motifs, mostly realistic pictures of animals apparently worshipped as sacred, and a few cultic scenes, including anthropomorphic deities and worshippers.
• This material is of key importance to the investigation of the Harappan language and religion, which continue to be among the most vexing problems of South Asian protohistory.
Economy-Agriculture
• The Mesopotamian model of irrigated agriculture was used to take advantage of the fertile grounds along the Indus River.
• Earthlinks were built to control the river's annual flooding. Crops grown included wheat, barley, peas, melons, and sesame.
• This civilization was the first to cultivate cotton for the production of cloth. Several animals were domesticated including the elephant which was used for its ivory.
Harappan granary
Decline
• Cities abandoned, reason unknown • domination of an indigenous people ?
– who rebelled ?• foreign invasion?• gradual decline ?• climate shift: the monsoon patterns• flooding• destruction of the forests• migrations of new peoples: the Aryans
Recent Developments
• Climatologists have recently discovered that the monsoon patterns changed dramatically during the period 2000-1500 BC.
• Long term drought with few monsoon storms• Conclusion: Harappan civilization most likely fell
victim to climate change• Population shifted southward and eastward
towards Ganges River basin.
Mohenjo-Daro
Artist’s computer generated recreation of several excavated
buildings and structures
Foreign Invaders
• Beginning 2000 BC, an Indo-European group began migrating from central Asia (modern Turkmenistan) toward India.
• One branch settled in modern Iran/Afghanistan, another moved further south and eastward through the Khyber Pass into India/Pakistan.
Possible route of the Aryan invasions
Aryans arrive 1500 BCE
• From Caucasus Mtns. Black/Caspian Sea• Aryans – Lighter Skinned• Dravidians - Darker• Nomads who settled• Vedas, Upanashads, Rig Veda• Sacred/historical texts of Aryans
– basis for Hinduism
• Caste system• warriors, priests, peasants• later re-ordered: Brahmins (priests), warriors, landowners-merchants,
peasants, untouchables (out castes)
Caste System, 1000 BC
• skin color
• ritual purity
• “Us--Them” feelings
• divine order of four castes
Caste System (“Varnas”)
• Brahmins: the priests
• Kshatriyas: the warriors
• Vaisyas: merchants and peasants
• Sudras: non-Aryans
Caste system, con’t
• produced by Brahmins
• literature emphasized the divine order
• hierarchical relationship
• inheritance and marriage
• the most powerful organizer of Indian society– thousand of castes today
Castes
• define a person’s social universe
• define a person’s standard of conduct
• define a person’s expectations
• define a person’s future
• define how a person deals with others